Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 Radicalizing Warfare: The German Command and the Failure of Operation Barbarossa
- 2 Urban Warfare Doctrine on the Eastern Front
- 3 The Wehrmacht in the War of Ideologies: The Army and Hitler's Criminal Orders on the Eastern Front
- 4 “The Purpose of the Russian Campaign Is the Decimation of the Slavic Population by Thirty Million”: The Radicalization of German Food Policy in Early 1941
- 5 The Radicalization of German Occupation Policies: The Wirtschaftsstab Ost and the 121st Infantry Division in Pavlovsk, 1941
- 6 The Exploitation of Foreign Territories and the Discussion of Ostland's Currency in 1941
- 7 Axis Collaboration, Operation Barbarossa, and the Holocaust in Ukraine
- 8 The Radicalization of Anti-Jewish Policies in Nazi-Occupied Belarus
- 9 The Minsk Experience: German Occupiers and Everyday Life in the Capital of Belarus
- 10 Extending the Genocidal Program: Did Otto Ohlendorf Initiate the Systematic Extermination of Soviet “Gypsies”?
- 11 The Development of German Policy in Occupied France, 1941, against the Backdrop of the War in the East
- Conclusion: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization
- Appendix: Comparative Table of Ranks for 1941
- Selected Bibliography
- List of Contributors
- Index
2 - Urban Warfare Doctrine on the Eastern Front
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Foreword
- Introduction
- 1 Radicalizing Warfare: The German Command and the Failure of Operation Barbarossa
- 2 Urban Warfare Doctrine on the Eastern Front
- 3 The Wehrmacht in the War of Ideologies: The Army and Hitler's Criminal Orders on the Eastern Front
- 4 “The Purpose of the Russian Campaign Is the Decimation of the Slavic Population by Thirty Million”: The Radicalization of German Food Policy in Early 1941
- 5 The Radicalization of German Occupation Policies: The Wirtschaftsstab Ost and the 121st Infantry Division in Pavlovsk, 1941
- 6 The Exploitation of Foreign Territories and the Discussion of Ostland's Currency in 1941
- 7 Axis Collaboration, Operation Barbarossa, and the Holocaust in Ukraine
- 8 The Radicalization of Anti-Jewish Policies in Nazi-Occupied Belarus
- 9 The Minsk Experience: German Occupiers and Everyday Life in the Capital of Belarus
- 10 Extending the Genocidal Program: Did Otto Ohlendorf Initiate the Systematic Extermination of Soviet “Gypsies”?
- 11 The Development of German Policy in Occupied France, 1941, against the Backdrop of the War in the East
- Conclusion: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization
- Appendix: Comparative Table of Ranks for 1941
- Selected Bibliography
- List of Contributors
- Index
Summary
Eight days after the German invasion of Poland opened World War II, spearheads of the German 4th Panzer Division reached the Polish capital of Warsaw. In the mistaken assumption that Warsaw had been declared an open city, tanks pushed unsupported into the city. They were abruptly stopped by street barricades and heavy Polish fire from every window and door at point-blank range, causing the loss of some twenty armored vehicles. The German units pulled back and established a defensive position outside of the city. During the night, artillery moved into position and additional infantry was brought to the frontline. On the next day, the division repeated its attack. It quickly became clear that the Germans did not possess enough strength to break Polish resistance in this wellfortified area. The division commander, Generalmajor Hans Reinhardt, prevented a third attack that had been scheduled in the afternoon by his superior, General der Kavallerie Erich Hoepner. The 4th Panzer Division then went on the defensive and blocked Warsaw from the southwest until it was replaced by the 31st Infantry Division during the following days. As this first attack of World War II on a major city made clear, a coup de main with tanks could turn into a costly operation.
By September 20, 1939, German forces had encircled Warsaw completely. While the Eighth Army (south and west of the Vistula River) was heavily involved in the battle at the Bzura, there were only minor forces encircling the city in their sector.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization, pp. 45 - 72Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2012